A new study finds that the live-fast, die-young model of overworking employees doesn't pay off--even in the short term. Try these alternative ways to motivate your staff.

There's a certain glamour to burning the candle at both ends, living fast, working ridiculously hard, playing hard, and, perhaps, burning out young.

And it doesn't just apply to rock stars. It affects plenty of business owners too.

Sure, you know pushing your employees to work 60-plus hour weeks or to continually create without recharging their brains isn't sustainable, but perhaps you're calculating that the short-term gains from this big push will make up for the reduced productivity or staff-turnover costs down the line.

But if that's what you're thinking, according to new, in-depth research your math is wrong. The Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study looked at 32,000 employees across 30 countries to see how engagement affects productivity (and profits) over the long haul. The HBR Blog Network summarizes the findings:

Taking a social stance can provide a competitive advantage that goes much deeper than a flashy product or an Oscar. It shapes consumer perceptions, creates a trajectory of positive word of mouth, and influences share value and investor engagement.

Collaborative communities encourage people to continually apply their unique talents to group projects—and to become motivated by a collective mission, not just personal gain or the intrinsic pleasures of autonomous creativity. By marrying a sense of common purpose to a supportive structure, organizations are mobilizing knowledge workers’ talents and expertise in flexible, highly manageable group-work efforts. The approach fosters not only innovation and agility but also efficiency and scalability.

In focusing on a shared purpose collaborative communities seek a basis for trust and organizational cohesion that is more robust than self-interest.

A shared purpose is not the verbiage on a poster or in a document, and it doesn’t come via charismatic leaders’ pronouncements. It is multidimensional, practical, and constantly enriched in debates about concrete problems.

Leadership comes with hard work but successful leadership entails more than just laboriousness, it calls for special traits that only a select few possess. Whether these traits are skills that can be developed or are a matter of biological endowment is something which still needs scientific back-up. Generally speaking, successful leaders do have something in common. They share a set of common characteristics such as : confidence, focus, trust, far-sightedness, accountability, enthusiasm, persistence, communication, determination, love of their work, and patience. Also, successful leaders are a joy to be around. They listen empathically and are a source of inspiration and zeal to the people around them.

(From the article): Leading by example is an extremely effective leadership style. Some would say it’s the only one that works. Demonstrating it requires self-awareness to recognize any potential mismatch between your intentions and actions. If you can take the time periodically to reflect upon your leadership abilities, and then make appropriate calibrations to ensure the example you set is one worthy of following, then you are well on your way to building influence with those around you.

As leaders, we continually search for ways to improve, refine and hone our skills, abilities and demeanor. In this quest, we are consistently met with one immovable hurdle that limits our achievements…time. No matter how we adjust our schedules, there are consistently 24 hours in a day. We try to cheat Mother Nature and gain more usable time by sleeping less. This only works as a surge technique and not sustainable as less sleep over time loosens our focus and reminds us to remain mentally sharp, we must take proper care of our brain housing and sustainment system, also known as our bodies. For me, this means two things: Exercise and Eating. The first part is easy. Exercise is my time. It is time to clear my mind and lose myself in thought while achieving that Runner’s High to which many of us are so addicted. The second part is what I would like you to think about today. Are you eating properly? Are you being efficiently effective with this time, or are you wasting it merely obtaining sustenance for your body?

One of the wonderful benefits of our digital age is not only how we’re able to discover the talent and artistry of people we might have otherwise overlooked, but also how we’re now able to peek behind the curtain to learn what inspires them; to discover and understand what guides them to create these moments of engaging insights that linger in our mind’s eye.

Nature is the world’s most effective designer” according to Frank Stephenson, Design Director at McLaren Automotive. Looking at what nature has created over millions of years of evolution to get to the ‘perfect shape’, the designers at McLaren Automotive get their inspiration from animal anatomy, tree branches, blood vessels and river deltas to create some of the most sophisticated and efficient design solutions. If McLaren Automotive manages to create better designs by stealing from nature, surely nature must contain lessons that apply to business and leadership as well. Here are 4 laws of nature that can inspire you to become a better leader:

Delivering bad news is tough. It’s even harder when you don’t agree with the message or decision you’re communicating. Maybe you have to tell your star performer that HR turned down her request for a raise or to inform your team that the company doesn’t want them working from home any longer. Should you toe the line and act like you agree with the decision or new policy? Or should you break ranks and explain how upset you are too?

Everybody loves self-improvement. We want to get smarter, network better, be connected, balance our lives, and so on. That’s why we’re such avid consumers of “top 10” lists of things to do to be a more effective, productive, promotable, mindful — you name it — leader. We read all the lists, but we have trouble sticking to the “easy steps” because while we all want the benefits of change, we rarely ever want to do the hard work of change.

(From the article): Playfulness changes your mind-set from a performance focus to a learning orientation. One of the biggest reasons we don’t stretch beyond our current selves is that we are afraid to suffer a hit to our performance. A playful posture might help John feel less defensive about his old identity — after all, he’s not forever giving up his “secret sauce” and fountain of past success, he’s just practicing his bad swing.

Leadership requires the courage to fashion a code of conduct governed by principled conviction, so reviewing the writings of Classical philosophers is a good place to begin our journey towards becoming more effective leaders.

Michael Soupios and Panos Mourdoukoutas did just that for their book, The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership, and discovered the ancient philosophies remain relevant today.

As a leader does it really matter if people like you at work? After all it’s not a popularity contest. Or is it? Tom Bruno-Magdich of 4D Human Being argues that being likeable actually goes a long way to being a successful leader

(From the article): “Don’t join in their passive aggressive games,” advises Meager. “Avoid colliding with them in gossip or putting others down, it will only come back on you and you may end up with the blame in the ‘he said, she said game.”

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.